[DB!-Announce] April Davis Bicycles! mtg. Tues., May Loopalooza....

[Davis Bicycles Announcements]

*April Davis Bicycles! Announcements*
  We hope you've been enjoying the great springtime biking weather!
*
Davis Bicycles! April membership meeting*

Come to our next next membership meeting on Tuesday, April 13! Our guest
speaker will be Peter Jacobsen, author of the study "Safety in numbers: more
walkers and bicyclists, safer walking and bicycling."

*Tuesday, April 13, 2010
6 to 8 pm
Hallmark Inn Community Room
110 F Street entrance
*

*Refreshments will be provided.*


*City Council Candidates' Forum at Bike Forth*
Sponsored by Davis Bicycles! and the Davis Bike Collective: *Monday, May 3,
7:30-9:00 pm.*
We will send you more details on this event as the date approaches.


*Bike Loopalooza, Sunday, May 16** -- Volunteers needed!*

The DB! Schools Committee is sponsoring its first annual family event on the
Davis Bike Loop <http://davisbicycles.org/guide/bikeloop/>. Many Davisites
still don't know the best way to bike across town via the Bike Loop and
other paths. This event aims to acquaint more people with our first-rate
bike facilities. *Bike Loopalooza* will take place Sunday, May 16, from 10
am to 2 pm, the day before the Davis-Santa Rosa stage of the Amgen Tour of
California <http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/>.

Up to 11 stations will be spaced along the main loop, offering information
about using Davis bike paths to get to schools, shopping, and other
destinations. Each station will have its own specialty focusing on
elementary school riders, including bike check, helmet check, skills course,
face painting, tattoos (soluble, of course), birding, tree identification,
sidewalk art, etc.

We need volunteers to help out at the stations. Similar to the fall bike
rodeos, we will offer bike and helmet checks and run a skills course. We
will need:

   - volunteer bike and helmet checkers,
   - "runners," to bike between stations to carry materials,
   - bike repair tools and four pop-up shelters and 5 large (5 gallon is
   ideal) refillable water containers.
   - Some station volunteers may not have bike trailers for station
   equipment, so we may also need volunteers to move equipment and help set up
   and take down.

Please e-mail Christal Waters at chrystal2waters at yahoo.com if you would like
to volunteer, or can provide any of the needed supplies.


*Davis Bicycles! Board Nominations*
DB! recently became an official California corporation, and we are still
accepting nominations for our first board of directors. If you or someone
you know is interested in helping guide Davis Bicycles! to making bicycling
better in Davis, send your nomination to Leo Rainer at leo at davisbicyles.org.

*Have you visited the BikeDavis.info blog site?*
Read about bike-related happenings, also the most recent Davis Bicycles!
columns from the Davis Enterprise. BikeDavis.info is a community forum where
you can read and share opinions on all matters biking.

*Bike to School Save-a-gallon Contest!*
The Davis Bicycles! / Saveagallon citywide student bike to school
competition is going strong. Since it began in October, students have logged
a total of over 65,426 miles and saved the equivalent of 3,137 gallons of
gasoline and 30 tons of CO2. Among the Davis schools, Harper Jr. High leads
for the year with 3,422 days and  21,572 miles logged for alternative
transportation. For more information about the contest, contact Christal
Waters at chrystal2waters at yahoo.com

*Grand Opening of Bicycling Hall of Fame, April 24!*
The U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame will hold a grand opening for the public at
noon on April 24, 2010. Located in Central Park at 3rd and B Streets next to
the Farmers Market, the Hall of Fame features memorabilia and stories that
document the spirit and history of cycling in the United States. It's also a
museum with amazing bicycles dating back to the invention of cycling. The
Hall will feature *free admission* on Saturday, April 24 from noon to 4pm. More
information <http://www.usbhof.org>...

*Breakaway Ride <http://www.breakawayride.com/>, Saturday, April 25*
A major cycling event offering avid cyclists the opportunity to ride the
same course as the 2010 Amgen Tour of California, Stage 2, Davis to Santa
Rosa. Three distances will be offered for different skill levels. Riders
will be chip timed and supported, with a maximum of 3,500 riders. Registration
still open via active.com<http://www.active.com/cycling/davis-to-santa-rosa-long-and-santa-rosa-shortintermediate-ca/breakaway-ride-presented-by-specialized-stage-2-route-davis-to-santa-rosa-2010>
...

*Many volunteers still needed for
*

   - *Breakaway Ride, Sat., April 25. *Volunteer
info<http://www.breakawayride.com/volunteer-form/>
   ...*
   *
   - *Amgen Tour of California, Mon., May 17th. *Volunteer
info<http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/Tour/volunteer/2010-volunteer-form.html>
   ...

*Davis Bicycles! is helping to organize the Tour de Cluck,* a bicycle tour
of chicken coops throughout Davis on Saturday, May 22nd. This will be a very
fun event and a fundraiser for the Farm to School Connection. More
information, including ticket
purchase<http://www.davisfarmtoschool.org/events.html>
...


*Ongoing Bike Activities*

*Davis Bike Club <http://www.davisbikeclub.org/>, *Monday April 12, 7pm, at
the Vets Memorial Center (in far meeting room, far side of rear courtyard
near theatre). Guest speakers will be city council candidates Joe Krovoza
and Sydney Vergis.

*Davis Bicycle Advisory Commission*, 5:30pm, first Monday of the month,
usually at Community Chambers, 23 Russell Boulevard. More
information<http://cityofdavis.org/meetings/agenda.cfm?c=29>
...

*Davis Bicycles! Steering Committee. *Meets monthly. Reply to this message
for more info.

*Davis Bike Collective*. Bike Forth <http://www.davisbikecollective.org>,
the volunteer-run nonprofit community bike repair cooperative at 4th and L
Streets (on 4th behind Bikram Yoga). *Open Bike Night, *Mondays, 6:30 pm.
This Monday, 4/12, re-showing the films presented by Davis Bicycles! in
2008.  It should be a great lineup of bike-related shorts! *Open Shop Hours:
*Monday 1-5pm, Wednesday and Thursday 4-8pm, and Saturday 12-6pm.


*This Month's Links*
(including some from recent months since "our last issue")

*Repercussions are far-reaching when one bike goes missing at Davis Amtrak
station*
A much talked-about incident in early March, as reported in the Sacramento
Bee<http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/19/2618178/repercussions-are-far-reaching.html>
...

*John Berg blogs on greenwaste piles blocking bike lanes in
Davis*<http://www.davisvoice.com/2010/01/law-order-bicycle-lane-unit/>

*Watershed US Transportation Policy Change Deems Pedestrians, Cyclists and
Motorists Equals*
On March 15, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced, "This is the
*end* of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized."
Read more <http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/03/lahood-policy-statement/>...

*A Million Voices For Bicycling*
Do you agree that our elected leaders, and communities across the US, should
focus more on making bicycling safer, more convenient and appealing for
everyone? Pledge your support at peopleforbikes.org and help them reach the
goal of one million voices in support. peopleforbikes.org was launched last
month by the Bikes Belong coalition.

*Are bike advocates anti-car?*
A thoughtful article in The Squeaky Wheel, the newsletter of The Sacramento
Area Bicycle Advocates <http://sacbike.org> (SABA), May 2009 ("Is SABA
anti-car?"), particularly relevant after negative
reactions<http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/transportation-department-embraces-bikes-and-business-groups-cry-foul/>to
Secretary LaHood's announcement in March. See page 6 in
http://www.sacbike.org/newsletter/2009_05.pdf

*Bike Directions Added to Google Maps*
As described in an article in PC
World<http://www.pcworld.com/article/191152/bike_directions_added_to_google_maps.html>,
Google Maps now includes bike routes. But as of about a month ago, they have
mapped 26 major cities (not including many or most of the bike paths in and
around Davis) with more to come in the near future. There will also be a
"map it" feature in a few months, that will allow cyclists to map their
favorite routes and send them to Google and within a few days those routes
will be added. (Thanks to Beth Lovering for some of this info.)

Women Cycling Project: Take the survey
The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle
Professionals<http://www.apbp.org/>is conducting a survey of women and
girls to collect data on the many
possible factors influencing their cycling decisions. While progress is
being made on policy favoring bicycling, and new bicycling projects, women
continue to participate in bicycling at lower rates than men. Take the
survey<http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=261ae%2f5vYW6CL0QNgnk24U4cIFo3C4tYdzYFs8hepq4%3d&>(open
until May 15, 2010; women and girls only please).

*Assembly bill proposes special penalties for careless drivers who injure
bicyclists*
A.B. 1951 is modeled after a law recently enacted in Oregon. (Legislative
debate on that bill in 2007 was featured in the film
*Veer<http://www.veerthemovie.com/>
,* which many of us saw at the Varsity last May.) Under existing California
law, when a driver seriously injures a bicyclist or a pedestrian, the driver
may face only a simple traffic ticket in many cases. This bill aims to close
this gap in the law. More details and updates on this and other state
legislation <http://www.calbike.org/legislation.htm>...

*Federal Legislation would invest in Active Community Transportation*
The Community Transportation (ACT) Act of 2010, H.R. 4722, sponsored by Rep.
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), builds on the successes of the Nonmotorized
Transportation Pilot Program. It would establish a competitive active
transportation investment fund, for walking and bicycling improvements in
targeted communities around the country. Read
more<http://www.railstotrails.org/ourWork/advocacy/activeTransportation/campaignForActiveTransportation/ACT_act.html>
...

*Feature article<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/sports/global/29cyclist.html>on
stunt cyclist extraordinaire Danny MacAskill
* (as seen in the 2009 Davis Bicycles! Film Festival)

Enjoy the Ride...
Russell Reagan, Davis Bicycles!
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